Nine Times Veronica

                   a girl’s invocation game

A spirit wants a shell--
the psychopath's braincase
or hollow of a doll.
Even the shucked armor
of a crab will do.
For a voice box, it may wish
to appropriate the horn
of an old Victrola
or toddler's telephone.
But if a spirit wants
to put on a girl like you
with shadow eyes
and a melt of amber hair,
it will find your mirror
and get inside.


Did you see someone
wizard thin flash across
the glass, gangly legs
showing just enough skin
to make you look twice?


Tonight you'll need a needle,
brandy swiped from your mother's
bathroom, candlelight and 3am.
A ghost wants skin pricks,
burnt sulphur and for the ninth time
look in the mirror and chant
her name until the fetch looking
back at you is Veronica--
biting your lip, taking your breath,
wearing that giddy fright
she made out of your face.

Rawhead Journal
Forgotten issue, 2025